30-day report. Great list of what helped me & may help you!

Hi reddit and fellow nofapstronaughts, I almost can’t believe I’ve made it so far. Was gonna post other kind of post but decided to do a list of stuff that may help you as it helped me!

Making a small list of stuff that helped me as they may help others too (and myself if I ever relapse, which is not in my plans):

Joining nofap. Couldn’t have lasted longer than a couple of days without your help.

I took this as a serious subject I wanted to learn and master. Understanding what really was going on inside my brain. Read a lot on YBOP but also what people linked here from around the interwebs. I discovered I had the three characteristics of the addicted brain (numbness for anything but porn, everything was a trigger, and couldn’t resist temptation).

At first when I got massive urges I found that sorting my legos was a good therapy. By shape, by color, by type. Also going for a walk. But mostly, reading and researching about the urges and the addiction was what made everything easier.

Reading “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. Great read that will change what you thought about your brain. Has a chapter about internet porn addiction. Before nofap I’ve also read “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength” by Roy Baumeister. Also great read, tells you how the willpower works and what to expect from it and what not, and also how to train it. Both Doidge and Baumeister are qualified scientists and the books have a scientific approach, they’re not the self-help you-can-do-it-if-you-dream-it kind of book. Serious shit, highly recommend both of them books.

Watching Eckhart Tolle talk at google: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsf7FXPgQ_8 great to gain a knowledge of what you really are. You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You are not your emotions. You are something deeper in which all of the 3 take place and interact. Breathe and take a moment of conciousness every now and then and skyrocket your inner peace. His book “The Power of Now” is in my reading list.

I’ve taken notes during the video which I’ll write down here for your convenience:

1) Train your Willpower physiology

1.1) sleep > 8 hours

1.2) meditation at least 15 mins a day

1.3) physical exercise

1.4) low-glycemic, plant based food

2) Forgive yourself

guilt doesn’t help. let go. if we relapse…

2.1) mindfulness, acknowledge feelings.

2.2) common humanity. everybody relapses now and then.

2.3) encourage

3) Make friends with your future self Guture self is not a stranger. interact with him and Willpower will go up.

The Power of Self-Continuity

3.1) Less procrastination

3.2) More ethical behavior

3.3) Less debt / more wealth

3.4) Better Health

3.5) Get to know your Future self

3.5.1) Write a letter from your fs to your ps

3.5.2) Send yourself back to the future

4) Predict your failure

Predict failure, become a detective about it.

Track your success => slack off in the long run

Track your failure => less excuse to fail

4.1) Optimism about future behavior licenses self-indulgence today

4.2) Deffensive Pesimism

4.2.1) What are your goals?

4.2.2) What would be the most positive outcome?

4.2.3) What actions will I take to reach this goal?

4.2.4) What is the biggest obstacle?

4.2.5) When and where is this obstacle most likely to occur?

4.2.6) What can I do to prevent the obstacle?

4.2.7) What specific thing will I do to get back to my goal when this obstacle appears?

5) Surf the Urge

5.1) Notice the thought, craving or feeling

5.2) Accept and attend to the inner experience

5.3) Breathe and give your brain and body a chance to pause and plan

5.4) Broaden your attention and look for an action that will help you achieve your goal

anyway, great video to watch and rewatch. Her book “The Willpower Instict” is in my reading list.

Drastically cutting the random internet time. When I started the nofap journey I would randomly browse the interweb for hours reading random stuff. On reddit alone there’s so much interesting stuff to read posted each day that you’d need a week to catch up. So I’ve cut down on that too and I allow myself no more than an hour a day of random browsing. Nofap related stuff, work, and other specific activities are not included in the 1 hour limit. It’s only for random stuff.

Taking up a language. As I’m trying to unlearn about fapping I know I have to learn something new to activate neuroplasticity. I’ve found this great site http://www.memrise.com where you can learn almost anything for free in short daily lessons. I wanted to learn a language for a long time, now I’m doing it!! Also learning new stuff increases the lifespan of your neurons (Doidge’s book).

Walk instead of wank. As I’ve read in Doidge’s book that walking that walking or PE increases the amount of neuronal stem cells your hypothalamus produces, so I’ve been walking between 30 mins and 1 hour each day. It clears your mind and is good for you!

Gardening. Puts you in contact with nature. I think it’s my new hobby.

Eating healthier. I know it’s not directly related, but I’m feeling great about making a better human being out of my, so I found myself wanting to eat healthier. I’ve almost quit fast food and I’m trying paleo stuff. If you wanna get into it The Food Revolution is a great video to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSeSTq-N4U4 Eating healthier is eating more fat and less carbs.